LETTER FROM THE SECRETARY OF 
AGRICULTURE 
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, 
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, 
WASHINGTON, D. C., December 30, 1913. 
Pror. FRANKLIN W. HOOPER, 
President, American Bison Society, 
Brooklyn, New York. 
Dear Sir: The Department is advised that the fourteen head of 
buffalo, furnished by the New York Zoological Society, and presented 
by the American Bison Society as a nucleus herd for stocking the 
Wind Cave National Park at Hot Springs, 8. Dak., arrived safely at 
the Park, and are now established in a temporary enclosure. 
On behalf of the Department I beg to extend through you to 
the American Bison Society our thanks for this magnificent gift 
which has resulted in the establishment of another National game 
preserve and the acquisition of another herd of buffalo under Govern- 
ment auspices. 
It may interest your members to know that the Government now 
has about 345 buffalo, distributed in six herds, the fifth and sixth 
having been established this year on the Niobrara Reservation, Neb., 
and the Wind Cave Park, 8. Dak. In this connection it is interesting 
to reeall that the nucleus of the first herd, the one now in the Na- 
tional Zoological Park, was acquired twenty-five years ago through 
the late Eugene E. Blackford, and consisted of a pair of buffalo 
captured near Ogallala, Neb. Soon after, four others were presented 
by Dr. V. T. McGillicuddy, a public spirited citizen of Rapid City, 
S. Dak. It happens that after the lapse of a quarter of a century the 
Government has re-established on National reservations a herd of 
buffalo in each of the States from which the original herd was 
secured. Since 1888 great changes have occurred, both in the condi- 
tion of the buffalo and in public sentiment regarding their preserva- 
tion. The future of the species now seems assured, and the reports 
of the past few years show a gratifying increase in the various public 
and private herds. 
About ten per cent. of the buffalo in captivity now belong to the 
Government, and are distributed in six herds, the last four in charge 
of this Department, as follows: 
1. National Zoological Park, Washington, D. C...... 1888... 2 15 
21) Nellewstone, Nawonal, bark, Wyss «cisco, satis 19022 3.6? 
3” Wichita, Game Preserve; (Okla. so. arcsec ess 2 te 1907.... 48 
4. Montana Bison Range, Dixon, Mont............. L909. 20 86 
5. Niobrara Reservation, Valentine, Neb............. tS I fete! 0) 
6)" Wind Gave National Park, S>Dak?. 2. 22.2. 4-45: LOD Se: cuss ct 
otal ites aan 345 
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